The pulsing light from the Gnome's Light spell illuminated the circular room as he sat in the center among various statues of people, some of whom were in calm positions and others more twisted, as if frozen during an escape. There were some rotting corpses in the room as well, seemingly adventurers that met a poor end due to the various traps. In front of him was a large stone tablet representing the ancient city of Sunclaw.
"It seems as though this is the source of all the disturbance," the Gnome said, scratching his beard. "Quite curious, for the level of my curiosity is quite large."
The badger chittered as it used its teeth to peel open an orange.
"Yes, I find that curious as well," the Gnome said as he looked at the shattered stone on the ground. He shuffled on the floor toward the pieces and began grabbing a few. "It looks as though these were like an egg, yes. A stone egg. A stone egg in the shape of a humanoid figure."
The Gnome began casting a spell, and his eyes glowed with a purplish hue as he looked around. He took out his map of the Time Tree, which seemed to rearrange and move in real time. He stared at it in awe as it did.
"Grishauld, this isn't right," the Gnome said, alarmed, as he looked back up at the tablet. "This... This doesn't exist."
The Badger let out a little squeak as it looked up from its orange, juice dripping from its mouth as it tried eating too much. It chittered a question.
"Yes, yes, I know you know, but the Time Tree exists in the space between. Outside of time and science and magic. And it is the source of Void energy, which seems to be tied to the residents of that world aptly named in this timeline as The Shadowkin," the Gnome said, perhaps more to himself than anyone else. "It seems as though the tablet is not made of stone, but something organic... And it seems to be imbued with that Void energy, essentially allowing it to exist as it is now in all times at the same moment while containing its own universe within it... Like some sort of sculpted world."
The Badger looked back at its orange, then at one of the faces of the shattered stone statues on the ground. It moved slowly, squinting as if trying to remember something. Then suddenly, a flash of remembrance, followed by a look of horror.
"It... Oh Gods. I know what this is, it's a—" the Gnome started before the tablet began to shake and glow, the images on the tablet swirling and contorting until it began to crack. "Wh- what? It's... Grishauld, get down!"
Suddenly, the tablet exploded, along with the other statues in the room, debris shooting in all directions. The Gnome put himself between the tablet and the Badger, taking the full brunt of the shrapnel as he stumbled back, bloodied and bruised. As he collapsed, he fell on the Badger, who struggled under the Gnome's weight.
The Badger dragged itself out from under the barely living body of the Gnome as it looked toward where the tablet had been. The tablet was now gone, shards and large pieces lay scattered across the room, the statues all shattered. Suddenly, one of the corpses groaned in the corner as it pushed itself to its feet. It brushed off the dust of the stone and looked around the room, then locked eyes with the Badger.
"Where... When?" the figure asked, squinting at the Gnome and the Badger. "Where is he?"
The Badger chittered in a way that indicated, had it been in common, it would likely have been an expletive.